Open letter to Whitehorse Mayor Bev Buckway and council:
First, I wish to state a “mea culpa.” I did not participate in the rebranding exercise.
Why?
Well, when I first heard of this exercise I thought: what a silly waste of time and money. I never expected this exercise to not include the option of retaining the existing brand and logo. I was unaware of a major outcry or concern regarding the current sternwheeler logo, or the brand “Striving for Excellence.”
Now, I regret not having participated. However, hoping late is better than never, I wish to make these comments.
I believe many people feel the existing slogan and logo are just fine. I suspect what may appear to have been apathy really was simply willing acceptance of the status quo.
Please don’t equate lack of response to apathy.
Now that many have awakened to what may be foisted upon us, you will see that the proposed change has struck a nerve.
Given all the priorities the city faces, I’m astonished rebranding was even a concern. I suggest, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
I am dismayed to think of how much money has been spent already on this exercise, and how much more will be spent if this process is not stopped.
Council would be remiss to choose a new logo and brand unless there was a clear indication the current logo and symbol were unacceptable to a large number of people.
As Ranj Pillai rightly pointed out, rebranding will be ineffective if it isn’t supported by the citizens.
Coun. Doug Graham commented on how few actually did show support for the new symbol and logo. Please be willing to consider the process was a mistake. Sometimes even large organizations, doing copious market research, make mistakes. Coca-Cola made a colossal mistake when it attempted to rebrand Coke. But it soon recognized the mistake, reversed its decision, and created Coca-Cola Classic.
If Coca-Cola is capable of reversing a major and costly decision, surely Whitehorse can.
I urge mayor and council to scrap the idea of pursuing a new logo and brand.
The current ones are just fine.
Jim Gilpin
Whitehorse
See more letters page 8.